i took my chances with the jigsaw (i never use tools) and cut a piece of plywood to the dimensions of the decal (12" x 24").

i didn't bother with leaving space for margins or borders

because i didn't want to have too much room for error.

then husband dearest bought a 1" square strips of wood and cut them to fit the back perimeter of the board. we used 3/4" tacks to attach the wood strips on the front of the board to add some character to it

i painted the front and the sides of the sign and let it dry.

i lightly sanded part of the face of the sign and the corners.

then i rolled out the vinyl decal over the board

and used kitchen utensils to make sure it was well adhered.

i slowly removed the film starting on the corners.

it was important to remove the film slowly making sure that each letter was coming off entirely.

sometimes part of the letter would stay behind and i would place the film back down